Sixteen students from around the world are converging on New York City to explore how to apply design thinking – the combination of unleashed creativity and executable actions – to pressing social problems. The participants, from as far away as Brazil, Australia and Portugal represent a variety of disciplines and range in experience from graduate level students to seasoned professionals.

The sold out, six week program at the School of Visual Arts will run on two parallel tracks: the first will educate students on how to conceive and execute their own projects for social change with a  focus on funding projects that are not client-based. Along with a personal project, students will participate in the development of a team project that addresses a pressing need for a local non-profit organization. On this track, participants will roll up their sleeves to take the program out of the realm of theoretical thinking and extend it into the real world.

The program was co-founded by Steven Heller, design historian, author and critic and Mark Randall, Principal of Worldstudio. Randall serves as the program chair, noted faculty includes: Chad Boettcher, Weber Shandwick Worldwide, Martin Kace, Empax; Bob McKinnon, YellowBrickRoad; Michelle Mullineaux, ESI Design; and Andréa Pellegrino, Worldstudio.

Over the course of the six weeks students will participate in a series of lectures and field trips with eighteen leaders in the areas of design and social change.

Through a partnership with desigNYC the participants will be collaborating with a variety of New York City non-profit organizations: Healthy Bodegas, IOBY, Democracy Now!, The Blk Projek and Enterprise.

To learn more about Impact! visit: www.sva.edu/impact

The Impact! students begin their first day at SVA

Worldstudio and the School of Visual Arts in New York City are launching an exciting six week summer intensive called Impact! Design for Social Change.

To remain competitive, corporations are looking for innovation and impact in the area of social change as it relates to their business. The non-profit world is seeking new ways to support their constituencies through design strategy. This six-week summer intensive will introduce participants to the growing field of design for social advocacy.

The program – co-founded by Steven Heller, Co-chair, SVA MFA Design and Mark Randall, Worldstudio – will run on two parallel tracks; the first will educate students on how to conceive and execute their own projects for social change with a focus on funding projects that are not client-based. For the second track students will participate in the development and full execution of a team project that addresses a pressing need within a predetermined community. The team projects for the program are being selected in partnership with desigNYC – a group of leading designers and design advocates with a mission of improving life in New York City by helping connect the nonprofit and professional design communities.

The faculty – in formation – is composed of leaders in the area of design for social change:
Chad Boettcher, Senior Vice President, Social Innovation, Weber Shandwick
Martin Kace, founder, Empax
Bob McKinnon founder, Yellow Brick Road
Mark Randall and Andréa Pellegrino, partners, Worldstudio

A series of ten lectures featuring leaders in the areas of design and social change will be presented. The speaker list to date includes:
Scott Harrison, founder, charity: water
David Gibson, partner, Two Twelve Associates
Milton Glaser, principal, Milton Glaser, Inc.
Jason Rzepka, Vice President, Public Affairs, MTV
Edwin Schlossberg, founder, ESI Design

To learn more about this program visit:  http://www.sva.edu/impact